Singing and joy and happiness are so intertwined. ⁣

So I know that He sings. ⁣

How do you think our Heavenly Parents sound?⁣

I know They sing. ⁣

Singing is joy and praise. ⁣

But it doesn’t always feel that way, right?⁣

When we open our hymn books in church to sing the opening hymn, it’s oftentimes routine. ⁣

(Or time to try and keep your kids from tearing pages out of the book.)⁣

Yeah, yeah, opening hymn. It’s what we do. ⁣

But how would our congregations, and more importantly our own hearts, be transformed if we sang with joy and praise in our hearts?⁣

Singing without a care in the world?

My heaven is filled with a whole lot of singing. ⁣

“And they shall sing the song of the Lamb, day and night forever and ever.” (D&C 133:56⁣)

It’s not going to be somber when we see Jesus. ⁣

Reverence and praise work together!⁣

And I think the newest songs being added to our hymn book are encouraging us to realize that joy and reverence can go hand in hand.

Singing, with our hearts and souls and intent fully behind it, is a beautiful way that we WILL use to praise Jesus.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Does Jesus sing? first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Because there was someone who experienced almost everything in His mortal ministry alone. ⁣

It’s so easy to picture Jesus as a man who always had a smile on His face, surrounded by people. ⁣

But He was also very misunderstood, even in His lifetime, right?!⁣

Even His closest friends and dearest apostles didn’t fully understand what He was doing or what He could do. ⁣

When I feel all alone, this is my comfort to turn to:⁣

“I have trodden the wine-press alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and none were with me.” (D&C 133:50⁣)

He knows true loneliness. ⁣

And He endured it so that He could comfort us. ⁣

Life can be very lonely sometimes. ⁣

When there’s no one to relate to, or a friend who forgets something important, or kids who get sick and make you miss an event…

It’s okay to feel lonely. ⁣

But we don’t ever have to actually be alone, because Christ knows exactly what this feels like. ⁣

He is always near me, though I do not see Him there.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Feeling lonely first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

I was a really good parent before I gave birth!⁣

Come to my home now at any time of day and you’ll see dried mac and cheese, cracker crumbs, yogurt or any other assortment of foods hidden somewhere on my kids’ faces. ⁣

Now don’t get me wrong, I still want my kids to have clean faces. ⁣

I’ve just changed my expectations of what “clean faces” looks like. ⁣

It doesn’t look like constantly clean faces.⁣

Instead, it looks like constantly washing dirty faces. ⁣

“Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord.” (D&C 133:5⁣)

Being clean before the Lord seems like an impossibly high standard. ⁣

Because I’m getting “dirt” on me all the time. ⁣

A little splash here. ⁣

A little fleck there. ⁣

Staying clean constantly isn’t what I’m shooting for. ⁣

Instead, I’m deciding to never give up on washing the spots off. ⁣

I’m scrubbing here and wiping off there. ⁣

I’m taking full showers whenever I need.

That’s what real repentance and change look like!⁣

Not staying spotless, but committing to becoming spotless as soon as we realize we’ve gotten a bit dirty. ⁣

“Repentance is not an event; it is a process.” – Russell M. Nelson

My kids vary greatly in how clean they are each day.⁣

But I’m never going to give up on helping them get clean once again.

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post Dirty kid faces first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.

Most of us grew up feeling comfortable attending the church we were born and raised in.

So our professor specifically wanted us to go somewhere we would be a bit uncomfortable.

I wanted to understand a specific group of people better, so I attended one of their meetings.

My professor was right!

I did feel a bit uncomfortable being in an atmosphere I wasn’t used to.

I didn’t “get” all the unspoken rules and routines that everyone else seemed familiar with.

I didn’t know a single person.

But I was also shocked at how much love and understanding I felt in my heart as I listened to the meeting.

Like, SO much love.

This taught me an important lesson that being willing to sacrifice our comfort can lead us straight to love.

When we humbly sacrifice for other people, whether it’s a group we don’t know, our child, or a ward member, we can’t help but grow in love for that person or group.

This means if we want to grow our loving relationship with the Lord, we need to be willing to sacrifice, too.

The Lord knows that it takes work to build that love:

“Wherefore, prepare ye for the coming of the Bridegroom; go ye, go ye out to meet him.” (D&C 133:19)

Jesus Christ loves us, and our willing sacrifice performed with good intentions will always produce greater love. 

Happy Studying!

-Cali Black

The post An uncomfortable meeting  first appeared on Come Follow Me Study with Cali Black.